No one will believe the claim that Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang paid over RM1 million to Sarawak Report to settle his civil suit against the news portal, the PAS president’s deputy said last night. Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that the claim, which was made by PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was slander and therefore PAS did not need to prove anything.
“These allegations are just slander. All it does is to make us stronger. We can see not all the people listen nor believe these lies so it’s not a problem for us. We will give our full support to the relevant agencies to investigate (the claims). It’s not up to us to prove anything. Let those slandering us show proof - said Tuan Ibrahim.
PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had to cover Sarawak Report’s RM1.4 million in legal fees to withdraw his defamation lawsuit, Clare Rewcastle-Brown confirmed today.
Rewcastle-Brown included an excerpt of a letter of undertaking confirming the amount, and said the payment was the only item from the settlement both parties had agreed to remain silent over.
“The out of court agreement did not oblige Sarawak Report to provide any of the remedies sought in Hadi’s claim, such as keeping silent on the subject of Umno payments to PAS or anything else, since Sarawak Report had refused to apologise for its remarks or to surrender its commitment to fair reporting in the public interest,” Rewcastle-Brown added.
She also derided Hadi and PAS leaders for paying the RM1.4 million in order to terminate the lawsuit, saying they would have spent significantly more had they pursued the case to the end and ultimately lost.
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